italian prime minister mario monti has handed in his resignation. he promises to step down once the lawmakers pass the budget. they expect to meet with party leaders this weekend and dissolve the lower house and expect an election late february. monti led efforts to deal with italy's debt crisis. he appointed a cabinet of experts, not politicians. he pushed for structural reforms for over a year. he says the government has been hard to run since it lost support from the vice party led by prime minister berlusconi. he is expected to outline his ideas at a news conference this weekend. >>> the head of nato says syrian president bashir assad is acting like a desperate regime. he is condemning the syrian military for continuing with opposition forces. he said it justifies nato's mission to overcome turkey. it is a country which borders syria. >> the facts that such missiles are used in syria emphasizes the need for effective defense and protection of our ally, turkey. >> the united states, germany and the necessity netherlands we turkey with 200 personn